Jon Zabala
| Date of birth | 27 November 1996 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Place of birth | Getxo, Spain | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.92 m (6 ft 3+1⁄2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 128 kg (282 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Jon Zabala (born 27 November 1996) is a Spanish rugby union player, who plays for Section Paloise.[1]
He is an international player with Spain national rugby team.[2]
Club career
[edit]Zabala began his career as a second row with Getxo Rugby Taldea, the team from his hometown. He quickly advanced through the ranks, reaching the first team as a second row. During a match for a Basque players' combined team (Euskarians Rugby), Zabala was discovered by Pierre Peytavin and Peio Álvarez, two scouts from Aviron Bayonnais. They quickly contacted him and his club to formalize his signing with the Basque team.
In July 2015, Zabala joined the second team of Aviron Bayonnais to acclimate to a new team and country. His coaches also decided that Zabala should develop his skills as a tighthead prop, requiring him to adapt to the demands of the new position.
Zabala made his professional debut on 17 December 2016, in a EPCR Challenge Cup match where Aviron Bayonnais faced the Italian team Benetton Rugby Treviso in Italy. The visitors lost 22-17.[3]
In September 2019, he was loaned to Anglet Olympique Rugby Club, a team competing in Fédérale 1, the third tier of rugby in France.[4] In the summer of 2020, he ended his association with Bayonne and began a new chapter with Stado Tarbes, based in Bigorre.[5]
From 2021, Zabala played for AS Béziers Hérault in Pro D2, the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France.
In 2024, after becoming one of the best props in the second tier, Zabala joined Section Paloise, which competes in Top 14.
National Team
[edit]Zabala participated in the Under-19 European Championship, where Spain won the tournament, scoring one of the tries in the final. In 2017, he was called up by national coach Santiago Santos to face Georgia, making his debut with the Spanish national team, known as the XV del León, by coming on in the second half of a game that ended in a 10-20 loss.
References
[edit]- ^ "Player profile". itsrugby.co.uk. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
- ^ "Rugby - Tarbes accueille un international espagnol". Sport Business Mag (in French). 8 July 2020. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
- ^ "Challenge Cup - Fiche de match Trévise vs Bayonne, le 17/12/2016". www.allrugby.com (in French). Retrieved 1 August 2024.
- ^ "Fédérale 1. Le pilier bayonnais Jon Zabala rejoint Anglet pour la saison". actu.fr (in French). 13 September 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
- ^ "Un international espagnol signe à Tarbes". rugbyrama.fr (in French). Retrieved 1 August 2024.
External links
[edit]- Jon Zabala at ESPNscrum
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